SAUSALITO, Calif. — While mobile applications have appeared in pretty much every industry you can think of, entrepreneurs have plenty of opportunities to introduce whole new experiences to consumers. Take e-commerce, for one thing.

Apps like Uber and Lyft have brought turned the mobile device into a remote control for the real world, Rabois said, but in retail, opportunities remain.

Sponsored by VB

Join us at GrowthBeat where thought leaders from the biggest brands will share winning growth strategies on August 17-18 in San Francisco. Sign up now!

Commerce isn’t the only place where mobile developers can change the world. When it comes to improving productivity, for instance, there’s still more to do.

“If you take a step back in the software world, what’s the scarcest resource in the world? It’s time,” Rabois said. Last year, Khosla invested in a startup, the stealthy Timeful, that attempts to help in that department.

More generally, Khosla Ventures looks out for startups “using math and data to displace human judgment,” said Rabois, who has been an executive at PayPal, LinkedIn, and Square.

Fortunately for entrepreneurs, early-stage money is more abundant these days.

“There’s clearly, you know, more seed capital [for] very, very early stages of companies,” Rabois said.

More information:

Khosla Ventures is a venture capital firm run by people who listen to, analyze, and advise entrepreneurs. We manage a main fund that supports early- and late-stage investments and a seed fund for developing very early-stage experiments... read more »

Keith Rabois is a member of the Khosla Ventures investing team, joining in March 2013. Most recently, Rabois was Chief Operating Officer at Square where he oversaw the company’s business operations including marketing, communications... read more »